Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Baking, 1917 Style

As we learned last week, with the entry of the US into World War I, voluntary food conservation came into being in order to not only provide food for American troops heading over to fight in Europe, but also relieve severe food shortages for European civilians. The Food Administration encouraged homemakers to be frugal and to do without; the women’s magazines jumped in and began to publish recipes that reflected the new frugality.

And so this week, I present...recipes! I haven’t tried any of them—too busy getting ready for April (hint, hint). But I think I might try this first one some time, because....well, chocolate and potatoes? Carb heaven. It’s from a Royal Baking Powder ad in the July 1917 issue of McCall’s Magazine:

Potato Chocolate Cake
¾ cups shortening
2 cups sugar
½ cup chocolate
¾ cup milk
2 ½ cups flour
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
5 teaspoons Royal Baking Powder
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
¼ teaspoon allspice
1 cup mashed potatoes
½ teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup chopped nuts
½ teaspoon cloves

Cream shortening, add sugar, melted chocolate and mashed potatoes, mix well. Beat eggs separately and add yolks to the first mixture. Add milk and dry ingredients which have been sifted together. Beat well. Add nuts, vanilla, and beaten whites of eggs. Mix thoroughly and bake in greased loaf tin in moderate oven one hour. (The old method called for four eggs)


This one (from a Royal Baking Powder ad in June 1917’s McCall’s) is less tempting—I’m not a fruitcake fan—but I just love the recipe name. Makes you jump up and say, “yum!”, doesn’t it?

Or not.

Eggless, Milkless, Butterless Cake
1 cup brown sugar
1 ¼ cups water
1 cup seedless raisins
2 ounces citron, cut fine
1/3 cup shortening
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon salt
2 cups flour
5 teaspoons Royal Baking Powder

Boil sugar, water, fruit, shortening, salt, and spices together in sauce 3 minutes. When cool, add flour and baking power which have been sifted together. Mix well, Bake in loaf pan about 45 minutes. (The old method called for three eggs)

And finally, from an article in September 1917’s The Delineator entitled “More French Recipes”, is a recipe from a B. Simmen of Ruschlekom, Switzerland:

War Cake
1 cupful granulated sugar
2 teaspoonfuls cocoa
2 cupfuls milk
2 cupfuls flour
1 tablespoonful melted grape jelly
1 egg
1 or 2 teaspoonfuls powdered cinnamon
1 teaspoonful baking soda
Nuts

Take the granulated sugar and add to it the egg. Then beat together and add the cocoa, cinnamon, and the fresh milk or cream. Add the milk or cream very slowly. Mix in the flour. Dissolve the bicarbonate of soda in one tablespoonful of melted grape jelly.

Butter a high baking-pan, as this dish bakes better in a high pan rather than a shallow one.

Shell some nuts and put them over your cake. This dessert is inexpensive and will keep for several days.

I rather like how the recipe’s author neglects to mention baking the cake!

Bon appétit!

6 comments:

Charlie said...

How do you melt jelly? Or is it still in the solidifying stage?

Shortening will kill you :(

QNPoohBear said...

The recipes assumed you knew how to cook.
Milk wasn't always easy to get during WWI and not everyone had refrigeration so they had to come up with recipes that used what they could get.

I tried a few recipes for an online exhibit but nothing super wacky. I'm told that war cake is actually pretty good. It's been a popular recipe since the Civil War. I liked Hot Water Ginger Cakes and oatmeal muffins. http://rifoodwars.tumblr.com

You can substitute vegetable oil for shortening and still be authentic. It wasn't as commonly used as shortening though. They also used a lot of animal fats. Whatever fat they had leftover was used in baking.

Leandra Wallace said...

I've heard of sour cream in chocolate cake, but never potatoes! Prolly makes it pretty moist, I'd bet.

Marissa Doyle said...

It probably does, Leandra!

Christy Lynn said...

I found it amusing that you included a potato cake recipe as I've been enlisted to make one for a family reunion this summer. Apparently my dad and his brothers have fond memories of their grandmother's devil's food potato cake with a boiled fudge frosting. I'm interested to find out what it tastes like; my cousin did a lot of experimenting to come up with a close approximation of Granny's recipes!

Marissa Doyle said...

Very interesting, Christy! Do your recipe and this one have a lot in common?